Blockchains are powerful self-contained economic systems that, by creating the right incentive structures, can make a set of distrusting parties come to a consensus. They are self-contained in that all the information that the participants come to an agreement towards, is all contained inside the blockchain. This keeps the system secure, but also limits its usage. For example, the Bitcoin blockchain doesn’t know about the outside world – say whether the S&P 500 is up or down for the day, or how the USD/JPY market is moving. It doesn’t even know a lot about its own market, i.e. the BTC network nodes don’t know, for example, the price of BTC/USD.
This secure but self-contained aspect of blockchains make their use limited when it comes to the real world. Bitcoin, for example, is only pitched as a store of value and means of payment, not beyond that. However, as we enter the 10th year of blockchains in the real world, we are seeing more and more projects try and tackle this problem of getting real-world information into the blockchain. The XYO Network may very well be one of the most ambitious projects out there.
Real World Location on Blockchain
The XYO Network creates a way to encode real-world information on to the blockchain, which can then be used by other applications. Since XYO is built on Ethereum, other Ethereum projects can use its specialized ‘Proof of Location’ protocol for their own purposes, by integrating with the XYO network.
Why is this important? Think about the implications for a moment. The blockchain, a decentralized and trustless economic machine, can now know about a person or thing’s location. This is powerful, in everything from in-person discounts to drones navigating their way in space by creating a microtransaction to other drones to get out of their way, so they can reach their destination faster.
The application potential of such a universal proof of location protocol are endless. Of course, like with any startup, there is a probability of failure, but the ideas behind a proof of location protocol on the blockchain are especially appealing and powerful.
Actually Deployed Beacons
There are several upcoming projects that are also working on a type of location on the blockchain. However, one thing that the XYO Network has going for it is that it already has a lot of deployed beacons in the wild. In the real world – today. This isn’t vaporware.
These beacons are the ones that measure and transmit the location of objects or people, and their deployment is going to be critical for such a project to succeed. In fact, the proof of location protocol that becomes the de-facto standard will be the one that is able to deploy the most number of beacons, because that’s what gives trust and real-world applicability as opposed to some theoretical musings alone.
The XYO network would actually work as a complement to existing GPS system that is so commonly used for navigation. It will also be more trustless than GPS, since it is on the blockchain and not controlled by one agent like the US government. This may not be a problem in most cases, but in the 1% cases where it is, XYO network can act as a supplement to GPS.
If you’re interested to learn more, check out the XYO network site and the whitepaper to learn more. Make sure you’ve read the documents very carefully if you’re considering investing in the token sale. Remember that investing in token sales is very risky and you can lose all your money. Never invest more than you’re willing to lose in token sales.